This invention relates to a method of manufacturing contact spring sockets with a plurality of radially inward bowed contact springs clamped at one end in an approximately cylindrical socket body, formed by a thin-walled deformable sleeve, wherein firstly a mandrel is co-axially introduced into the socket body at the pin insertion end, which together with the socket body defines an annular space and centres an annulus introduced into the socket body, wherein subsequently straight contact springs, formed by sections of a contact spring wire, are introduced into the annular space in the socket body from the end remote from the pin insertion end, until with their front ends they come to lie in the annular gap between the annulus and the socket body, wherein the contact springs when in an aligned state relative to each other are pressed against an annular head at the front end of the line connector which partly projects into the socket body and are made fast in this position at one end whereby they are so radially elastically deformed, that their free ends which extend to the ring gap adjacent the pin insertion opening are guided freely movable therein.
A method of this type which belongs to the state of the art, according to which contact spring sockets of particularly small construction can be manufactured, is described in the German Patent application P33 42 742.9-34 which has not been published as of the filing date of the present application. This method uses sleeves with a wall thickness of 0.1 mm, economically prefabricated by drawing, which can easily be deformed from outside. After introduction of the contact springs the sockets are provided with a radially inward projecting annular indentation at each of two spaced apart regions axially offset relative to the annulus and the annular head respectively. These annular radial indentations press on the contact springs and bow them radially inward.
In this manner contact pins of only about 0.6 mm diameter can be provided with sockets with an external diameter of only about 1.5 mm. Thus an extraordinarily large number of contact spring sockets can be arranged next to each other in a very small space, and thereby high quality multicontact connectors can be produced at low cost.
In this method of manufacture the degree of deformation of the socket body determines the size of the annular indentations and thus the bowing of the contact springs, on which in turn the contact force depends.